Calming Down

We've been in our little house by the Bay for 11 months now. This is the time of year when we first looked at the area and made our decision that we wanted to live here. Our neighborhood is now very quiet. There's very little boat traffic. With calm winds so far this week, there's hardly a ripple on the water. I still haven't winterized the boat. It's still on the lift because I'm holding out for one or two more fishing trips. I think the Chain Pickerel might be biting and there still should be some native rockfish around. We spent last weekend in Tennessee, then on down to see our folks in Atlanta. I'm hoping to get on the water some this week. -S

Here we go again!

With another big low pressure system cranking up the East Coast, we're expecting more high tides over the holiday weekend. On the graph, the black lines show the predicted high marks. As long as it doesn't get higher than 3 feet above normal, I think we'll be okay. -S

Coastal Flood Warning

A big low pressure system moved south of us and generated strong storms today. It pumped lots of water into the Bay and the high winds blew it over to the Western shore where we live. At almost 11:00 PM we have about a 3.5 ft surge. That's the second highest tide we've had since we've been here, the first being during tropical storm Ernesto. I'm still somewhat concerned because it's actually the lunar low tide right now with high predicted about 4:00 AM. If the wind continues, we could still get another 6 inches or more. I don't think that's enough to get into the house. Unlike during Ernesto, I don't plan to stay up tonight minding sandbags! The pictures are of Dianne's car in our driveway, and the street in front of our house taken with my cell phone camera in the truck headlights. -S

Last Harvest

Believe it or not, the weather here stays warmer longer into the Fall than it does in Tennessee. It's the way the jet stream dips into the South before it blows back up toward the Northeast. We've only had one light frost so far. We'll pay for it next Spring when it's sunny and warm in the Southeast and cold and snowy here. Today, we finally pulled up what was left of the garden, then raked and weeded the rest of the yard. For lunch we finished off the last of the vegetables. The tomatoes are small, but they still taste great! The crabs are gone now so I stacked up the traps against the fence. Even though they've moved to deeper water, they're inexpensive and plentiful at the seafood shops and restaurants. My buddy Dave suprised us with a bushel of steamed crabs at his bluegrass jam Thursday night. We spent about an hour cracking crabs before we cracked out the instruments. Just one more reason why we called it the Old Bay String Band! -S

Acres of Rockfish

After the Seattle weekend we had to wrap up some business in Tennessee. It was a lot of fun hanging out with the kids. I spent some time down on the strip before the LSU football game and even worked in some brief time with friends. This week I've had time to do a little fishing, getting out a little before dark both Thursday and Friday evenings. Thursday, I caught fish trolling up above Baltimore Light. I've noticed that I sometimes inadvertently call the lighthouses "silos" because they remind me of fishing around silos in the TVA lakes. I found some big underwater humps there that are holding fish. Someone told me the area is called "Snake Reef," which is appropriate considering the winding shape of the submerged structure. Friday, I cruised around a while before finding lots of birds working the area out from Love Point. Beneath them were acres and acres of breaking rockfish. Most of them were small, in the 8 to 10 inch range. I bet there were 10,000 fish breaking which makes me think the future of fishing in the Bay is bright. I fished by jigging a Gotcha Lure at first, but switched to my topwater plug and fly combo and caught bigger ones. When I first switched, I made 17 casts before I *didn't* catch a fish! The weather has changed this weekend, so I don't expect much fishing. -S

Weekend in Seattle

I try to keep this blog relevant to things pertaining to the Chesapeake Bay area, but I thought I might sneak in a few pictures of our trip to Seattle last weekend. Dianne had to go on business, so I tagged along. I really like the sailboat pic. I shot it from the stern of a tour boat in Puget Sound. It isn't digitally enhanced at all. It was a stormy, rainy day, but the sun came out just as we were leaving the harbor. It lit up the sailboat like a spotlight. -S

Flying Blind

I never did much navigating by GPS until I started boating on the Bay. Sometimes, it's the only way! -S